Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1448077.015 - Grayson Lumber Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Birmingham Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 4:00 p.m. on November 21, 2019, an employee (a work release employee) working at a lumber mill was sitting on an infeed board edger conveyor belt which was down for maintenance elsewhere in the plant. Coworker #1 (maintenance) finished repairing the machinery and turned to see where Coworker #2 (machine operator) was located. After he was satisfied that Coworker #2 was clear from the machinery, Coworker #1 started the board edger and the conveyor belt. Immediately, the coworkers heard screams. Coworker #2 (operator) turned to see that the employee's left arm caught underneath the heavy metal guard that measures board thickness. Initially, the employee sustained a "strawberry" mark on his upper forearm and slight bruising on his wrist. Later, back at the jail, the employee's wrist began to swell and he was transported to a local hospital. The hospital staff had the employee life flighted to a medical center. The employee was admitted for a surgical procedure to reduce the wrist swelling.

Keywords: Caught In, Contusion, Conveyor Belt, Edger, Guard, Hand, Inexperience, Insufficient Supervision, Laceration, Lack of Engineering Controls, Lumber, Machine operator, Maintenance, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Pinch Point, Pinched, Sawmill, Wood Board, Wrist